


Alex & Luke go back to Wales

by alley_oops, jennandanica



Series: Citadel: Luke Evans and Alex Skarsgard [139]
Category: Actor RPF, Citadel (Journalfen RPG), True Blood RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-04-08 11:28:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14104395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alley_oops/pseuds/alley_oops, https://archiveofourown.org/users/jennandanica/pseuds/jennandanica





	Alex & Luke go back to Wales

[backdated to early 2014, after Alex and Luke discuss the [possibility of visiting the Evanses again](http://alex-skarsgard.dreamwidth.org/2751.html)]

"So that's it. You're ready?" Alex asks, only half teasing. "No more pre-battle blowjobs. Your nerves are steady as a rock. We can totally do this." He asked the cab driver to drop them off when they were still half a mile from Luke's parents' house, precisely so that the two of them would have time to privately check in with one another before the big face-to-face. And anyway, the countryside where Luke's from is so beautiful, Alex grabs at the chance to walk.

Luke laughs, brushing their shoulders together. "As ready as I'll ever be and yes, we can," he says, psyching himself up. "It's just dinner. We can handle several hours alone with my mum and dad with nothing but food to distract us." He grins at Alex.

"Right." Luke's smile is like sunshine, and Alex can't help but give his husband a dopey adoring grin in return. "So, hm. Things not to discuss." He begins ticking items off by his fingers, one by one. "Our wedding. Gay marriage in general. Politics. Religion. Children. Grandchildren. Sex. Umm... I've still got three fingers left," he says. "What did I leave out?"

"You left out your coming out," Luke suggests happily, rather weirdly enjoying himself. "I'm sure a number of people mentioned that to them. Oh, and our tattoos." He grins.

"Oh right, the tattoos," Alex agrees, and links their hands in defiance of any small-minded person who might see them. "And since I came out, maybe your mom won't ask me questions this time about all the women I've been with." Yeah, _that_ had been an awkward moment of his first visit to Wales.

Luke laughs. "I was surprised she knew! There's a whole big thing about not partaking in gossip when you're Jehovah's Witness." Which usually covers tabloids and such, which is why he felt so safe in talking about his sexuality early on in London. He knew there was no way it would get back to his mum and dad.

"Do you think she's sneaking off in the middle of the night to troll the internet?" Alex teases, but he's truly curious about what unexpected thoughts might rush beneath Yvonne Evans' calm surface. So far as he knows, the contraband wedding gift she sent to Luke is still a secret from her husband, and that small act of rebellion really took Alex by surprise.

"I think my cousins are sneaking her clippings," Luke says with a grin, "which means I'll be a lot more careful about what I say from now on." He gives Alex's hand a squeeze. "Thanks for doing this with me. Actually, for encouraging me to do this. I'm not sure I would've gone out of my way to come back if you hadn't suggested it."

Alex shrugs a little. "It's important to you. Family is important to us," he says simply. "And what do you mean, you'll be more careful about what you say? You weren't about to start telling the Daily Mail about your favorite sexual positions anyway, were you?"

Luke laughs. "No, but I used to talk about liking porn and what kind of porn," he says, blushing a little. "And now that you're out and we're not hiding anything, well, most things," he corrects, touching his collar, "who knows? I might pull a Kirstie Alley and thank you for giving me the big one." He grins.

"What?" The reference passes Alex by completely. He stops walking and turns to slip his arms around Luke's waist. "What's the big one? And what kind of porn did you tell them about?"

"This actress, when she won an Emmy, she thanked her husband for giving her the 'big one' for so many years," Luke says, laughing and blushing even more. "And I said I loved porn, that I'd bought my first film when I was 15, had a great collection and watched it almost every night. I might have even answered the question 'what makes a good porn star' with 'an enormous big fat cock'."

"Oh my god, that's right, I remember now." Alex laughs and rests his forehead on Luke's shoulder for a moment. "How could I have forgotten that? You wouldn't love me half as much if I weren't half as..." He laughs again and kisses his husband.

"This, we do not discuss with my mum and dad," Luke says, unable to stop laughing. "Oh! And let's not mention I changed my name, please? I'm not ashamed or anything and I will tell them at some point, I just don't want to bring it up this time."

"Okay." Alex nods, letting Luke know that he has heard and understood. Especially since he then adds, "Right, so that's our marriage, gay marriage, religion, politics, sex, tattoos, grandchildren, children, my coming out, porn, my cock, and your name change." He grins. "Shit, what _are_ we going to talk about? Jesus?"

"How beautiful Wales is," Luke suggests solemnly before bursting into giggles.

"How tropical the Welsh climate is," Alex adds, starting to walk again. There's a reason the countryside is so green and lush – the fucking near-constant _rain_. He smiles, watching his lover laugh. "You're right, those two topics should absolutely cover the entire evening." Well, fuck.

"Talk to my mum about food," Luke says more seriously. "And talk to my dad about... Wales. Seriously. Express an interest in going for a hike while we're here or ooh! I know. We could ask them if they want to go to the Big Pit Coal mine with us. My dad knows all about mining history."

"I can totally do that," Alex agrees with a nod. "I love learning about the history of wherever I travel. Oh, which reminds me of another forbidden topic: the Viking apocalypse is coming up soon." He shrugs a little, the corner of his mouth twitching up. "Damn pagans."

"The what?" Luke blinks at Alex.

"The end of the world," Alex replies, because, _obviously_. "Thor, Odin, Loki, all the other gods, they're going to have a massive all-out war on February 22nd. The Earth will split in two, the damned souls will rise up from the underworld, and... Well, it'll suck to be us." For a man talking about the imminent destruction of everything he loves, Alex appears remarkably cheerful.

"Okay..." Luke responds, wide-eyed and obviously amused. "Don't talk to my parents about that."

"Right." Alex nods, like he's engraving Luke's instructions on his memory. "Grass. Coal. Lovely Welsh sunshine. Yep, I'm ready."

Luke laughs again and leans in, going up on his tip-toes to kiss the corner of Alex's mouth as they reach the edge of his parents' property. "Here we are," he says with a sigh, staring at the house which looks as perfect and homely as ever. He glances at his watch. "Right on time." Or close enough anyway.

Waiting for a moment, Alex then looks at Luke expectantly. "After you." Like hell, he's going in first.

"Some knight in shining armour, you are," Luke teases, but he heads for the door, keeping Alex's hand in his until they're right there. He knocks, bouncing a little nervously as they wait. His mum answers the door. "Mum!" He hugs her tight, smiling from ear to ear. 

Alex isn't sure whether Yvonne wants any contact with him at all at this point, but he figures he should continue like he means to go on - like their last encounter was just some bad dream - and so when Luke steps back he gives her a quick hug as well. "Hi. It's nice to see you again."

"It's good to see you too," she says, smiling up at him. "How was your flight? How's the inn?" She glances at Luke. "Did they put you in a decent room?"

"Yes," Luke nods, surprised she's asked. "Where's Dad?"

"I sent him into the village to pick up some milk. That was an hour ago," Yvonne says, ushering them inside. "I expect he's got talking to some of the lads."

David's avoiding them, is Alex's guess, but he's not going to say so to Luke. He wants this visit to be healing, dammit.

"Can I get you boys some tea? Alex?" Yvonne asks, closing the door behind them, so very happy to see her son – and his husband. It's been far too long.

"I'd love some, thanks," Alex answers, standing off to the side. "I take a lot of sugar in it, though. I've met a few Brits who found that offensive."

"Well, the Welsh aren't Brits," Yvonne says with a smile, eyes sparkling, "so no worries here." She shakes her head at both of them, standing there like they don't know what to do with themselves. "Sit down. I'll bring some biscuits too."

"Are you sure you wouldn't like some help?"

Yvonne starts to decline before realising the opportunity for what it is. "Thank you, that would be lovely. Luke, have a seat."

Luke goes wide-eyed at that and glances at Alex, wondering if his husband needs to be saved. But better his mum than his dad when it comes to the one-on-one.

Alex ducks into the kitchen, following Yvonne. The room is pretty small and he feels even more oversized than usual as he tries to keep out of her way. "What should I do?"

"There's a packet of biscuits in that cupboard there," Yvonne nods, putting on the kettle. "Store-bought, I'm afraid, but they're good. You can put them on a plate," she says, handing one over as she grabs three mugs as well.

Finding a package – hoping it's the one she meant – Alex tries to arrange the cookies in an artistic pattern. Fuck knows why. But he doesn't want Yvonne to think of him as some savage who swooped in and snatched her baby boy, only to turn him irreparably to the dark side.

Even if that's pretty much just what he's done.

"My mum and dad showed me pictures from the wedding," Yvonne says quietly, placing teabags in a pot and the pot on a tray. "It looked lovely."

Alex turns to look at her in surprise. Then he leans back against the counter, slouching a little. Trying to make himself appear smaller. "It was gorgeous," he agrees, just as quietly. "Did they tell you any stories, as well? Did they say that they enjoyed themselves?"

"They did. They were really happy you arranged for them to attend, and they enjoyed the resort," she adds with a smile. "They'd never been anywhere like that. Dad was very impressed."

"Your dad's a trooper," Alex says with a chuckle. "He came to my bachelor party and everything. And your mom and my grandmother hung out a bunch, although I think they mainly communicated through hand gestures." He meets Yvonne's eyes. "It meant so much to Luke to have them there. And the wedding gift you sent with them was beautiful." Oh, right – there’s another thing they can't talk about it, not in front of David anyway. The contraband secret-from-her-husband gift that Yvonne gave Luke.

"I'm glad you liked it," Yvonne says, setting out cream and sugar. "I assume Luke explained the significance?" She exhales softly, thinking once again how handsome Alex is, how much he's given up for her son. "His dad knows I sent it but we don't talk about that. Just like I know he kept one of the pictures my parents brought home, but he's got it hidden away in his workshop."

His lips purse, and he works to keep from outright frowning. "You don't talk about it to each other, I understand that. But is there a chance you could tell Luke these things you've just told me? He needs to hear them."

"He knows how I feel," Yvonne says, turning to the kettle which is now boiling. "I'm only telling you because I want you to know we accept you in our hearts and our family even if we can't publicly acknowledge that."

"...Thank you," Alex replies after a moment. It's a big statement for her to make - huge - and he gets that. But he's not really satisfied with her answer to his question. "Yvonne," he says softly, and lightly touches her arm to coax her to give him all her attention. "Please. This is very important to me. Have you _literally said_ those things to Luke, the things you just told me? Because he's not confident about this."

"But we've always supported him," she points out. "Even when the Church wanted us to turn our backs. And I sent you the spoon," she adds more quietly, seeing the truth in Alex's eyes. But still... "He knows," she insists.

Alex shrugs lightly. "He may know," he says. "But even if he does, he still needs to hear you say the words. You're his mother, and he needs to hear you say that you accept the choices he's made with me. That his dad keeps his wedding portrait close, and that you privately consider me to be his husband." God, his heart aches for these people, and all the joy they willfully throw away. But his heart aches even more for his lover.

Yvonne looks away, out the window to the trees beyond. She believes in her Church, in her husband, in his role and their beliefs, but this is their son and if he thinks they _have_ turned their backs... "David'll be back soon," she says softly, finishing off the tray, "but I'll find some time to talk with Luke while you're here."

Alex blows out a sigh of relief. "Thank you," he says earnestly, and takes the tray from her, turning to leave the kitchen.

Yvonne follows Alex back out into the lounge, gazing out the front windows, looking for any sign of her husband before she smiles at Luke, touching his hair. "It's long again," she says, amazed at how silky soft it is.

"For Dracula," Luke explains, smiling back then looking over at Alex as he puts the tray on the table. "But Alex likes it like this."

He's kind of bemused that Luke tells his mother such an intimate detail, and Alex nearly blushes, but he sends his lover a secret-laden grin. Oh, fuck yes. He _loves_ being able to pet Luke's hair. Run his fingers through it, rest his cheek on it, yank it...

"Yes, well, it suits you," she says quietly, taking a seat and reaching for the pot to pour their tea.

Luke's cheeks heat as he realizes how his innocent comment sounded to both his mum and his husband. "Plain, for me, please," he says, glancing away from both of them. God. "Did Dad take his phone?"

Yvonne shakes her head. "He dropped it last month and hasn't bothered getting a new one."

"Yeah, that can be so frustrating. I dropped my phone into the swimming pool once," Alex says, his tone completely bland. As if to give the impression that he didn't deliberately _throw_ it into his pool out of exasperation. He stirs sugar - and extra sugar - into his tea, and shoots Yvonne his most engaging smile. "Tell me a story about Luke when he was younger?"

"When he was younger?" Yvonne smiles, offering the biscuits around. "How young? Really little?"

"Let's see, we'll say anytime before he left Aberbargoed and went to Cardiff. Infant to teenager," Alex replies, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. "I'd love to hear anything."

"Well, let's see. He put his dad's shoes on one time when he was really little, could barely speak, and told me "bye bye, I Daddy, I go work," she says with a laugh. "And he used to make up his own jokes around the same age which made absolutely no sense. He'd say 'knock knock' and we'd say 'who's there?' and he'd go 'apple head' and giggle himself silly." She smiles at Luke, touching his hand. "He was always so confident, so self-assured. Went around singing all the time. And that lasted right from when he had his first words to when he left for school."

"I can imagine." Alex grins at his husband, completely delighted. "And here I thought you couldn't possibly get _more_ adorable," he tells him, and gives Yvonne a wink. "But now I've got someone on the inside. I bet if I can come up with a good bribe, she'll tell me _lots_ more adorable stories."

"Fine, but just remember, we're visiting your family next," Luke warns, munching on a biscuit, his cheeks and throat flushed.

"True." Alex sighs. "And my father is practically a professional at deliberately embarrassing his children." He shakes off the thought, and picks up his tea.

"Now that sounds like the start of some interesting stories," Yvonne prompts, with a quick glance at her watch.

Alex laughs aloud. " _None_ of which you'll hear from me," he assures her, then adds, "but I would really like it if at some point you and David could meet my parents. If you don't think that will be too explosive." Not explosive due to personalities, so much, but rather that it would again require acknowledging the fact that Alex - and by extension, his parents - is now part of the Evans family.

Yvonne drops her gaze, cradling her cup in her hands. "I'm afraid you'd have to ask David about that. He works during the week and we go from house to house on the weekends," she says softly. "I'm not sure when we'd find time."

"You don't... go on vacation?" Alex asks, a bit surprised. He knew Luke's parents' lifestyle was austere by choice, but he didn't realize that they kept quite so much out of their world. "You know, take a holiday?"

"They can," Luke says, responding for his mother who he can see is starting to feel uncomfortable. "But my dad doesn't like to travel, and he doesn't like being away from home more than a couple of days at a time so they usually just visit Cardiff."

"Ah." Alex gets the hint, and gives Yvonne a quick nod of apology. So, off-limits topics aren't even just the long list he and Luke came up with on the walk here; apparently, they're supposed to restrict themselves _entirely_ to the weather and the countryside. Good to know. "It's so pretty here," he says brightly. "Very green. Luke said he might take me to see a big coal mine museum."

"Big Pit?" his mum asks, brightening again, and Luke nods.

"We were hoping you and Dad might join us. I thought we'd go tomorrow. Grab some lunch on the way back."

"I'd love that," Yvonne says. "I haven't been in years but you'll have to ask your Dad. I'm sure he'll be interested though." And if he's not, she'll certainly push him to be. She turns to Alex. "What about your parents? Do they do a lot of travelling? Apart from your father's work."

"Sometimes my mother goes on location with my dad when he works, but usually she stays in Sweden," Alex replies. "My little niece is... let me think. She's about two-and-a-half now, and she's running all over the place, talking a mile a minute, and my mom doesn't want to miss any of that. Sophie is her only granddaughter," he says, watching Yvonne closely. Extremely curious to see how she reacts to the mention of grandchildren. "Although there's another baby on the way already."

"When are they due?" Yvonne asks, taking another biscuit, a small pang of envy running through her. She's never regretted having only Luke, the choice taken out of their hands, but sometimes, when she sees other women with their grandchildren...

"Umm... August, I think," Alex answers. "They're kind of hoping for a boy, just because they already have a girl. I'm just happy I've got Luke to help me pick out baby clothes this time. I felt so awkward, standing in that store, surrounded by tiny pink ruffles and blue teddy bears and..." He grins at his husband. "This time, you can come feel awkward with me."

Yvonne nods, deep in thought. "Hold on," she says, getting up and heading for the stairs. "I'll be right back."

Luke shrugs at the questioning look Alex flashes him. "What we did we say about children and grandchildren?" he says but it's obvious he's only teasing.

"What?" Alex is genuinely taken aback. "I didn't say anything about _our_ children. I didn't realize we couldn't talk about all the grandchildren in the world." Yeah, there seems to be a lot that he didn't fucking realize.

Luke laughs. "I'm kidding. It's fine. I don't know what she's doing," he says, shaking his head. "Or what my Dad's doing."

"Yeah..." Alex glances towards the stairs but there's no sign yet of Yvonne returning, so he scoots closer to Luke on the couch and pulls his lover to sit across his lap, arms wrapped around him in a warm embrace. "Do you think your dad is actually going to show up?"

"Probably just in time for dinner, but it's not you. He used to do this all the time," Luke says, his comfort in being held overriding any worry about his mum returning.

"I found it," Yvonne calls as she runs down the stairs, something blue and white in her arms. She glances up, her face showing shock for an instant at the way they're sitting but then she quickly schools her features. "I thought you might want to give this to your family, for the baby. It was Luke's and before that, it was my Dad's and his before him. My great-great grandmother made it around 1912, 1913." She hands the [antique baby quilt](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v227/sally_simpson/gvs-baby-quilt-1912_zps03837d9c.jpg) to Alex.

Alex reaches out to take the worn blanket from her, shock plain on his face. "This is beautiful," he says quietly. "Are they bunnies?" He runs his fingers gently over the printed fabric, thinking that it's surely been well-loved for more than a century now. He looks up to steadily meet his mother-in-law's eyes. "This has been with your family a long time. It's an heirloom. You don't want to give it to my brother." Maybe he's being too blunt, sure. But maybe sometimes he just can't help it.

"I think they're cats, chasing balls of yarn," Yvonne says, although goodness knows it's hard to tell after all these years. "And yes, I do. There's no one in my family to give it to and I was going to give it to Luke but since he won't have children of his own and he's part of your family, maybe it can be passed down a few more generations."

Alex raises an eyebrow, and for once says nothing. But he does look at his lover with a very clear message on his face: _Your turn_.

Luke looks distinctly uncomfortable and shifts from Alex's lap to sit beside him. "Actually, um. We might have a child after all," he says softly, holding his breath.

"You might..." _Oh._ Yvonne's eyes widen and she truly doesn't know what to say. She takes her seat again, her face gone ashen and tries to think of something but this is so far beyond... just everything, and the thought of how her husband will react...

 _Well, shit._ Alex had foolishly dared hope that Yvonne was really warming up to the idea of them, and that her genetic conditioning to continue the species might actually override her religious beliefs. "Thank you for the quilt," he says into the sudden silence, and reaches out to give Luke's hand a quick squeeze. "My family will treasure it."

"I know it goes against the Church, Mum," Luke says, not entirely ready to give up. "As does using a surrogate, which is what we'd do, but we're already damned as far as they're concerned."

"It's not that," Yvonne says, looking at Luke. "But do you realize how your father is treated by the elders? He's been threatened with disfellowshipping again and again in not turning you away, and he stands up to them and they back down, but this, I don't know what he'd do if they followed through..."

Alex shuts his eyes tightly for a moment of pain. Christ. He wants to fucking shout that the Church has obviously got its priorities all fucked up. He wants to demand why Yvonne never pushed back against her husband and their patriarchal community. And if Luke's father ever shows up, he wants to fucking tell him a whole bunch of shit that's on his mind, but first and foremost how David and Yvonne are completely destroying their future happiness and he couldn't think of a more short-sighted way to act if he _tried_... "Well, it hasn't happened yet," he murmurs, opening his eyes again. "So don't take on that worry."

"No, but it will," Luke says firmly, and they might as well handle this now that it's out there. "I won't tell Dad what we're planning, and when it happens, if you need to tell the congregation you've shunned us, that's fine. I'll still email you with pictures and news and you can decide whether you want to open them and whether you want to respond or not."

Startled, Alex turns to look at his lover, jaw dropped. He's said many times before that Luke is the strongest person he's ever met. Even so, Luke still has the power to surprise him with his stunning courage and grace. Like now. "That's... that's a lot less selfish than I could ever be," he says softly, and turns a skeptical gaze on Yvonne. "I hope you and David truly realize what an incredible person your son is." _Because I don't think you do_ , is left mercifully unsaid.

"We do," Yvonne says, close to glaring at Alex. "But you have to understand, while you and he live in a huge city, where all of this is accepted, we live _here_ , in a small town with a small church and a congregation of people we've known all our lives. Do you know what it would be like for us to be shunned? David might even lose his job. And I love my son," she looks to Luke, "he knows that, but no, I may not be okay with losing _everything_ in order to be okay with his having a child this way."

"But you'd be _gaining_ everything," Alex insists, incredulous. "Doesn't your Church value family?" And fuck, he never meant to end up in an argument with Luke's mum. Luke's dad, maybe – more than once, Alex has felt like going a few rounds with David out behind the old woodshed.

"We do, but we consider a family to be one man and one woman, lawfully wedded and procreating within that marriage," Yvonne explains. "Have you not explained any of this to him?" she asks Luke.

"Yes and no," Luke retorts. "We don't spend a lot of time talking about a church that's wanted nothing to do with me since I was a teenager." God. He's not even sure how they ended up here, and with his Dad absent, no less. "Do you want us to go?"

"No," Yvonne says without hesitation, starting to cry.

"Oh, fuckin' Christ," Alex breathes, covering his face with his hand. "I just made my mother-in-law cry." It feels like official confirmation of his "Complete Asshole" status.

"Not alone, you didn't," Luke says, poking Alex in the side, because really, he only has the ability to deal with one crisis at a time. "Mum, I'm sorry," he says, going over and wrapping his arms around her. "It's okay. I get it. I'm not going to lie and say I like it but I get it."

Yvonne can't stop crying. She feels like a horrible mother, like she's abusing her son or something but she can't help it. This is their _life_ and it's the only one she's known since she was seventeen. And Luke's always understood. Or at least it seemed like he did.

"I'm sorry, too," Alex says quietly, reaching out to touch her arm. "I've got strong opinions and I'm not always good at keeping them to myself. I never wanted to upset you." God, it's pretty much the polar opposite of what he wanted to do; he'd hoped he could help mend - in some tiny way - the rift between Luke and his parents.

"I know," Yvonne says, nodding, reaching for a tissue and wiping her eyes as she leans into her son's embrace. "it's just a lot to take in and David..." she shrugs, shaking her head, knowing he'll never be able to accept this.

Luke exhales softly, looking to Alex, wishing for a moment that they'd never come. "It's okay," he tells her again. "It's not happened yet and when it does, we'll figure it out. I'll find a way you can still be Nana no matter what."

Alex shares a pained look with his lover, then turns his attention back to Yvonne. "Is there anything we can do to make this easier for you? Anything your church would... you know, disapprove of less?" Fat chance, but he's trying.

"Adoption would be more acceptable," Luke says, answering for her, "but it doesn't matter because I don't want to do that. I want _our_ baby and besides, they'll be horrified by the idea of gay parents no matter what." He sighs again. "Look. Let's just... talk about something else. Did I tell you we're going to build a home in Canada?" he asks his mum.

She shakes her head, still hiccupping back sobs but much more softly now. "Where?"

"Um." Alex quickly latches on to Luke's change of topic, and pulls out his phone. "Let me show you some pictures," he says, scrolling through his pic files. Not that one, and god, definitely not _that_ one... "Here," he says, and simply calls up a real estate site on Safari instead, figuring it for a safer move. "We're looking for some land on the water - pretty much any body of water - and we want some good acreage. We both really like this one in British Columbia."

"Oh, that's pretty," Yvonne says, looking through the pictures. "It's very green too. Quite a bit like here." She smiles at them both. "What kind of house?" The question mostly directed at Alex.

He shrugs in response. "You mean, like, what style of architecture? I've got no idea," he says, giving Luke a tentative grin. "Basically we just want to have a place out in nature, quiet, private, but still fairly accessible. That's Shawnigan Lake," he explains with a nod towards the display on his phone. "It's just an hour's flight from Seattle, and there are direct flights between Seattle and Los Angeles pretty much every day. But the main point of building our own house is that Luke gets to have his dream kitchen, from the ground up."

Luke beams at that. "I'm going have a huge island in the middle so I can do all my baking and double ovens and a big gas range and a pantry, and we'll have lots of bedrooms for anyone who wants to visit, and lots of outdoor space too," he tells her.

Yvonne smiles. "It sounds wonderful. How close is the nearest town?"

"Victoria is like... what?" Alex glances at his lover. "Half an hour away?"

"Yeah." Luke nods, relieved they seem to have moved away from upsetting his mum. "But there's a couple little hamlets with small markets closer by."

"So you won't be completely isolated?" Yvonne confirms.

"No, although that's part of what we like about it," Luke tells her. "We love our place in Carmel but a lot of people still drive by and check it out and the town's _right there_."

"This is going to be a real retreat for us," Alex adds. "But have you seen pics of The Butterfly House? It's absolutely incredible."

"Luke sent me pictures," Yvonne says, nodding. "It's very modern, but I always wanted to live on the water."

Luke smiles, straightening up and slowly moving back to the couch now things seem to be leveling out. "You'd like the town, Mum. It's full of art galleries - painters, sculptors - it's really beautiful."

"Yeah," Alex nods, then turns to Luke to whisper in an aside, "did you ever send your mom any pics of the art Dean did of you?"

Luke shakes his head.

"...Okay." If Luke hasn't showed his mother the gallery art he's starred in, then there's probably a good reason. Alex sure isn't going to press the issue in front of Yvonne. "What kind of things do you like?" he asks her instead. "Art, or craft stuff, or reading...? I already know you're an amazing cook."

"I knit and I garden," she says. "But yes, I like to read too, mostly mysteries."

"That's funny, I can't read mystery novels, myself," Alex tells her in a confiding tone. "They're usually too violent."

Yvonne laughs. "You're pulling my leg," she says, eyeing him suspiciously.

There's a sound of a car pulling into the driveway and Luke cranes his neck, looking out the window. "It's Dad. He's back," he says, rising to his feet, a 'here goes' look flashed at his husband. Round two's about to start.

"Hey, great!" Alex gives Yvonne a bright smile, but the look he sends his husband's way is unmistakably 'Get us the hell out of here!' Although, true, he hadn't even thought that David would show up.

Perhaps the situation is improving.   



End file.
